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All Rise...

Judge Clark Douglas has often been accused of lacking game.

The Charge

Two top-notch Spike Lee joints.

Opening Statement

"When making a business decision, the only color that matters is
green."

Facts of the Case

In He Got Game, we follow the story of a man named Jake Shuttlesworth
(Denzel Washington, Man on Fire), who
is serving a lengthy prison sentence for accidentally killing his wife. One day,
Jake is told that he is being given one week of supervised release. The reason:
Jake's son Jesus (real-life NBA star Ray Allen) is the top high school
basketball player in the nation, and the governor wants Jesus to play at his
alma mater. If Jake can succeed in convincing Jesus to attend Big State, then
his prison sentence will be reduced considerably. The only problem: Jesus
despises Jake and wants nothing to do with him.

In 25th Hour, convicted drug dealer Monty Brogan (Edward Norton, The Incredible Hulk)
attempts to get his affairs in order before beginning a seven-year prison
sentence. He hangs out with his old friends Jacob (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote) and Frank (Barry Pepper, Saving Private Ryan), resolves a
few things with his girlfriend Naturelle (Rosario Dawson, Sin City) and engages in some serious
conversation with his father (Brian Cox, Deadwood). Will Monty accept his
fate, or will he attempt to make a last-minute escape?

The Evidence

I've been disappointed in much of Spike Lee's output in recent years, as the
bulk of his 21st century work has either been formulaic studio material (Inside Man, Oldboy) or ungainly independent stuff
(She Hate Me, Red Hook
Summer). However, I keep hoping that someday he'll make a return to form,
because he's a force to be reckoned with when he's on his game. Thankfully, this
Blu-ray release gives viewers an opportunity to revisit two of Lee's strongest
and most ambitious efforts.

He Got Game is easily the more divisive of the two titles included in
this set, but I've always found it an incredibly ambitious and compelling
viewing experience. In many ways, it's a classic Hollywood melodrama, a fact
underscored by the sweeping Aaron Copland music Lee tosses all over the
soundtrack. He's not just giving us an intimate relationship drama, he's giving
us a Great American Story that aims to provide commentary on countless aspects
of American life. The pressures of fame have been examined on countless
occasions by the movies, but rarely with as much cutting insight and dynamic
style as Lee offers here. Ray Allen delivers an exceptional performance as a
young man who finds people pushing and pulling at him on every step of his
journey to stardom, with countless coaches, agents, buddies, girls and relatives
eager to get a piece of whatever he's going to receive. It's rare to find a
professional athlete capable of achieving considerable nuance as an actor, but
Allen pulls it off.

Not everything works—the film runs at least twenty minutes longer than
it really needs to, and that's partially due to the needless subplot involving a
prostitute (Milla Jovovich, The
Fifth Element) who gets involved with Washington—but Lee delivers a
large handful of extraordinary dramatic moments. The father/son relationship the
film explores always feel authentic; Lee refuses to soften any of the hard edges
that exist between the two characters. Washington does an superb job of defining
the difference between the man he was (the film contains several prominent
flashback scenes) and the man he's becomes—it's amazing how much a little
regret and self-loathing can alter a human being. The scene in which Washington
visits his wife's grave is a particularly striking moment of raw
emotion—it might have felt silly if Washington and Lee didn't play it with
such heartbreaking sincerity.

There's considerably less critical debate about 25th Hour, a film
which has only grown in stature over the years and which easily stands tall as
one of the high points of Lee's career (I'd argue it's second only to Do the Right Thing). Working from a
screenplay by David Benioff (adapting his own novel), Lee delivers an
extraordinary portrait of a man's last day of freedom. Sure, Monty's technically
supposed to get out in seven years, reconnect with his friends, marry his
girlfriend and return to real life, but deep down everybody seems to know that
these happy reunions aren't likely to come to fruition. This is the end of an
era, and nobody knows how to deal with it (it's telling that the events of Sept.
11, 2001 play a prominent background role in the film—one of Monty's
friends lives in an apartment overlooking ground zero, but refuses to move).

Lee has always had a gift for creating distinctive characters, and so many
of the players here are so well-drawn. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Barry Pepper
are ideally cast as Monty's vastly different friends: Hoffman is the reserved,
clumsy, buttoned-down school teacher who grows distressed with himself for
nursing a crush on one of his 17-year-old students (Anna Paquin, The Piano). There's an intimate encounter
between the two late in the film that digs into so many complex emotions with
very little dialogue, and the shot of Hoffman walking in a daze in the scene's
aftermath is a masterful directorial touch on Lee's part. Pepper, on the other
hand, is a slick, confident stock broker and ladies' man who seems like he'd
love nothing more than to be the next Gordon Gekko. Even so, there's some real
humanity lurking beneath his oily surface. Both men seem to have more
distinctive public personalities than Monty, who tends to hold his feelings
close to his chest. His most emotional outburst takes place in the privacy of a
restaurant bathroom, as Norton lashes out angrily at every demographic in New
York City before finally turning his tirade on himself.

The high point of the film is the climax, built around a lengthy monologue
from Brian Cox which imagines the life Monty might live if he decides to run.
It's a beautiful, heartbreaking piece of filmmaking, enhanced considerably by
Terence Blanchard's anguished underscore, Lee's dreamy visuals and Cox's
sturdy-yet-tender delivery. Then, when it's all done, there's a quick cut back
to the present that might just be the most devastatingly effective moment in the
whole movie. Lee's boldness can be exasperating when it's misused, but it's also
a crucial component of his best work.

The Spike Lee Joint Collection: Volume 1 (Blu-ray) delivers a pair of
stellar transfers. He Got Game gets a 1080p/1.85:1 transfer which
represents a huge improvement from the previous standard-def release. Colors can
be a little wobbly at times, but detail is strong and depth is stellar
throughout. 25th Hour has always had an intentionally gritty, grainy
look, and the fine 1080p/2.40:1 transfer it receives does a fine job of
preserving the film's rough look. Detail is exceptional throughout, and the
natural grain present throughout is beautifully preserved. Both films receive
DTS HD 5.1 Master Audio tracks, and it's hard to pick a clear winner between
them. The music sounds stronger and more robust in He Got Game, but
25th Hour features considerably more immersive sound design (particularly
a nightclub sequence which makes brilliant use of the rear speakers).

Supplements are highlighted by a pair of brand-new audio commentaries: Lee
and Ray Allen on He Got Game, and Lee and Edward Norton on 25th
Hour. The commentary is the only bonus feature He Got Game receives,
but 25th Hour also recycles some older extras: two additional audio
commentaries (one with Lee, one with David Benioff), a making-of featurette,
some deleted scenes and a brief featurette examining the early clean-up efforts
at ground zero.

Closing Statement

It's hardly a definitive set, but these two Spike Lee joints are absolutely
worthy additions to any movie lover's collection. Solid transfers, new audio
commentaries and an attractive price make the package that much easier to
recommend.